GiN 2012 Election Cheat Sheet (Voter Recommendations)

GiN’s recommendations for the 2012 General Election, with a focus on Nebraska issues. This is a four-page PDF guide. When viewed on a computer, it has activated (clickable) links to additional information on every issue presented and to outside resources recommended to provide information necessary to fill out one's ballot on Tuesday.

Links to sample ballots for Lancaster and Douglas County (If you have a link to sample ballot in any other Nebraska county, you're encouraged to include a link in the comment section) are included so voters may print one out and go through the guide while "studying up". My daughter, our second oldest child, is voting for the first time, and she said she's going to treat it like a "take home test" so she's informed when she votes.

Considering the sheer number of items on our ballots (an increasing number, it seems) I feel like I'm taking a test for which I am surprisingly not thoroughly prepared, especially in General Election years.

For that reason, I put together a list of tips and links which can be used to review "obscure" items on the ballot which I know have tripped me up in the past. Feedback from the people who attended our presentations this past week confirmed that I'm not alone in saying to myself, "Who is THIS guy? and WHAT is this body he's going to serve on if he's elected???"

In 2010, we received requests for resources in reviewing judges on the ballot and have included a link to a Nebraska Bar Association Judges Evaluation report. I haven't had time to look at it yet, but I will when I study the sample ballot before I head off to my voting precinct tomorrow.

We're interested in your feedback on the information provided. If there are other "information holes" which frustrate you in attempting to be a well-informed and conscientious voter which are not addressed in this year's "Cheat Sheet", please either make comment or use our Contact Form.

Cheers, fellow voters, in "studying" for our "take home test"!

Two choices for obtaining the PDF:

1) Click on the image below to view / download the PDF directly from our site. Note that the first item is an IMAGE only, and only the first page, so it is incomplete and the links are not clickable. You'll want the four-page PDF...so just click anywhere to download it.

2) There is an embedded Scribd document under the image; you should be able to view directly with the embed, including in full screen, etc., visit the document on Scribd, and, if you have an account, download and/or print.

(Don't forget to use your zoom feature on your PDF viewer...we had to pack a lot of information in the four pages!)